From the 'Well of the Retching Cure' to a commuter village on the M9 motorway

Excursions Through Ireland 1820

Travel writing from the 18th and 19th centuries can offer a very interesting insight into the areas and lands that the writer visits. Instead of the dry statistical accounts a keen insight can be given of the people, characteristics and features of an area. Excursions Through Ireland: Comprising Topograpical and Historical Delineations of Each Province… by Thomas Cromwell was published in 1820 and has a typically wordy title for books of that era.

The passage below is from pages 71-73 and contains a very interesting story of how three local men are treated by a passing coachman. The author then gives his opinions on how such coachmen would be treated in England if they tried the same things there. Observations are also offered on the parish of Kilmacahill which show the area to be less well off than other parishes.